Not That Bad
by dragonprincess1988
Summary: Tim's been having a rough time of it. Dick makes that worse, albeit unknowingly, and Jason? Well, Jason just happened to find Tim, at least that's what he thought.
1. Chapter 1

Dick was doing a handstand in the middle of the cave while talking to Tim, who was sitting at the computer, typing. "Tim, it's not that bad."

Tim turned to face him with a blank expression and offered a curt nod in the affirmative. "Right, of course…sorry to bother you."

Tim got up to leave as Dick stammered in an attempt to say something, but Tim just walked away. When Tim got to his room, he pulled out his laptop and just started writing.

_It's not that bad...that's what I'm told; but who gets to decide how bad it is? What makes it bad, but not THAT bad? I mean, what's the scale here? What's our control group? Hell, what's the variable? What are we comparing it to? Are we comparing this situation to other 'normal' situations? Because if that's the case, then yeah, it is THAT bad. But if we're comparing it to Blackgate, than no, it's not that bad. It's still bad, just not being in a maximum security prison bad._

_Okay, thinking about it, if you have to compare your situation to prison--a maximum security prison at that--then it probably is that bad, and you should probably just ignore people who tell you otherwise, because they clearly have no idea what they're talking about, right?_

_Then again, who am I to decide who gets ignored? I mean, it's not like my opinion has meant anything to anyone around me for some time. In fact, I can't actually recall the last time that my opinion has actually been taken into consideration. I'm told it's because I haven't been assertive lately, but what's the point of being assertive if I'm only going to be shut down for bothering to try. It's just easier not to go there, right?_

Tim stopped typing the moment he heard a knock on his door. He quickly shut his laptop, and put it away before grabbing a book off the nightstand. "Come in," he spoke as he opened the book to a random page in the middle.

Dick opened Tim's door to find him sitting on his bed. "I was wondering if we could talk."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "About?"

Dick sighed as he sat down on the bed. "Look, I know what I said upset you. I just don't know why. I mean, I didn't say anything that wasn't true. Don't you think you're being just a little melodramatic?"

Tim didn't say anything. He simply made a show of looking at his watch. "Yeah, I guess I am, but right now I've got to go." Before Dick could say anything else, Tim was gone.

***

Forty minutes later Tim found himself sitting on his bike outside of a bar--and he wasn't really sure how he had gotten there. He remembered getting on his bike, but that was about it. Everything else was just a blur of streetlights and anger...anger at Dick for not understanding and calling him melodramatic, but mostly anger at himself for not being able to just talk with another human being. Hell, what did he know? Maybe he was being melodramatic, and he just needed to shut up and deal.

"What's the matter, little bird?"

Tim tensed immediately, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the nickname, or the person talking. "What do you want, Jason?"

Jason shrugged lazily as he leaned against Tim's bike. "What do I want? You're the one in my part of town. So, let's talk, baby bird."

Tim laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You and I don't talk."

Jason smirked at him. "Well, I could kick your ass if you want."

Tim thought about just leaving, but it wasn't like he really had anywhere else to go. "If you want to…feel free."

Jason frowned at the response. "Now, you're just taking the fun out of it."

Tim shrugged, and continued to stare past Jason. "I'm told I have that habit."

Jason rolled his eyes. The kid was certainly a buzz kill. "Yeah, and you _used to _have a habit of fighting, so why is the little bird out by himself in this part of town...in civvies, no less?"

Tim stared at him impassively. "No reason."

"Wrong answer." Jason was getting annoyed with how little of a reaction he was getting from the kid. Normally, Tim would at least show some anger while dealing with him.

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

Jason put his arm around Tim's shoulder just to see him tense. "You've spent a lot of time with the bat, so I'm sure you don't know how this talking thing works, but short or one word answers do not a conversation make."

Tim shrugged off Jason's arm. "I wasn't aware we were having a conversation, Jason."

"Well, we would be if you'd fucking talk." Jason spoke as he punched Tim in the arm to get a reaction.

Tim just blinked a few times before staring at Jason incredulously. "I'm sorry; are you actually encouraging me to talk?"

Jason shrugged as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Maybe."

Tim looked around swiftly. "Okay, what universe did I fall into?"

Jason sighed as he pulled a cigarette out of the pack. "I'm bored, and you look...dead."

"Since when do you care?"

Jason rolled his eyes as he searched for his lighter. "Look, if you get fucked up in this part of town the bat will be all over me, so don't mistake saving my own ass as giving a damn about you, kid."

Tim nodded once. "Right, of course…thank you."

Jason paused in lighting his cigarette to stare at him bemusedly. "Thank you? For what?"

"You don't like me, and you've never pretended to. I like that. It's oddly straightforward…I don't get that often."

Jason removed his unlit cigarette from his mouth as he turned to face Tim fully. "Did you take a head shot?"

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Did. You. Get. Hit. In. The. Head?" Jason enunciated each word slowly for Tim.

Tim shook his head. "Not that I can recall, why?"

Jason folded his arms over his chest out of annoyance. "Because you're acting rather stupid, and I've heard you're the smart Robin."

Tim shrugged again. "I guess you heard wrong."

Jason grabbed Tim's face and forced Tim to look him in the eyes. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

Tim laughed--a real honest to god laugh. "No."

Jason continued to search Tim's face for any hint of drunkenness. "What's so funny?"

Tim pushed Jason's hand away before shaking his head as if to clear it. "Clearly, I'm fucked up enough to get even your attention, and yet it's all me. I don't even get to claim this is because of some substance. It's all just me…just pure screwed up Timmy."

Jason ran a hand through his hair. This little talk was not on his agenda for tonight. "Does Dick know where you are?"

"I think the real question is does, Dick care where I am."

Jason sighed. "You know, you're making it impossible to fuck with you, because it just wouldn't be any fun."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "Am I supposed to feel bad about that?"

"I don't know, but I still think there's something wrong with you."

Tim laughed again, but this time there was little humor in it. "Of course there's something wrong with me, Jason. I'm still here."

Jason raised an eyebrow at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on. When you and I run into each other one or both of us ends up leaving in pain. Therefore, the moment you said anything to me all of my instincts said 'just start up the bike and leave', and yet here I am." Tim gestured widely to his surroundings.

Jason rolled his eyes at Tim's response. "Well, it's not like I've attacked you…yet."

"Which is seriously making me question which earth I'm on."

"Give me a break…attacking you now is like kicking an injured puppy, and I have more self respect than that…not to mention standards."

Tim glared at him. "I'm not an injured puppy."

Jason smirked at that. He was finally getting an emotional response, and he loved it. "Right, injured puppies are less pathetic."

Tim shrugged. "Well, we've all got our talents."

"Yeah, too bad we haven't actually found yours."

Tim shook his head. "You're assuming I have any.

Jason smacked Tim upside the head. He wasn't playing along, and that was annoying Jason more than anything else right now. "What is wrong with you?"

Tim lazily shrugged again. "Lack of sleep and caffeine, combined with a whole lot of life sucking and Dick being…never mind."

Jason perked up at that. "So, Dick's being an ass?"

Tim shook his head slightly. "Nope, I'm just being melodramatic."

"You're not standing on a bridge."

Tim was truly confused by the response. "What?"

"Well, if your going to claim that you're being melodramatic, there should be a bridge involved…and a hair flip…chicks dig the hair flip."

"And you asked me if _I_ hit my head?" Tim pointed to himself before continuing. "You aren't even making sense."

"Sure I am." Jason smirked again. "You're just too screwed up to see it."

"Right. I should go." Tim turned on his bike, but as he was pulling away from the curb Jason jumped onto the back of it. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You were starting to get interesting. I didn't even think that was possible, and now you're leaving, so I'm coming with…" Jason leaned forward, and grabbed the handle bars, forcing Tim forward, so he could use the throttle.

Tim pushed Jason back enough that he could drive. "Can we go back to you trying to kill me? It's far less creepy."

"I'll kill you when you have your head on straight." Jason smiled to himself. "This is why I have dignity."

Tim rolled his eyes at the response. "Oh, really?"

"Just shut up and drive."

"You know, I could just sorta miss this next turn," Tim gestured in front of him before returning his hand to the handle bars. "And then neither one of us would have to deal with each other ever again."

Jason wanted to reach up and smack Tim in the head again, but he figured doing that while driving was a bad idea. "God, who let you out of the cave? I think we need to examine your head."

"I'm just stating our options."

Jason growled at that. "That is not an option."

Tim turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder before turning back to the road. "I didn't think you'd fear death, Jason."

"That's it! Pull over! I'm driving!"

Tim shrugged as he switched lanes. "If you really think that'd be better."

"I do, and you're going to tell me what you're on."

Tim pulled off on the side of the road, and switch places with Jason. "I'm not on anything."

Jason glared at him suspiciously before getting back on the bike. "Maybe that's your problem."

Tim raised an eyebrow at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason took a calming breath before starting up the bike again. "Just shut up until we get to my place."

Tim reeled back in surprise. "Your place? Why are you taking me there?"

"Because it's better than being here."

Neither one of them spoke again until they were inside Jason's apartment. Jason gestured for Tim to sit down on the couch. "Now, you're going to sit here while I get us something to drink, and then you're going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you."

"Who says there's anything wrong with me?"

"I do." Jason called back to him from the kitchen.

"What do you know?"

Jason came back in the room holding two bottles of water. He handed one to Tim as he sat down on the floor in front of him. "Looking at you right now is telling me everything I need to know."

"And what's that?"

"That you're a disgrace as a Robin." Jason spoke before taking a large gulp of water.

Tim shrugged as he opened his own bottle of water. "Well, as long as we all agree here."

Jason put the cap back on his water before dropping it beside him on the floor. "God, remind me to find the person who called you intelligent and set them straight."

"Okay."

Jason leaned forward slightly. "You do realize this is the part where you're supposed to give an emotional response, right?

Tim slumped back into the couch. "And what if I'm just not up for showing emotion?"

Jason stood up and began pacing the length of the room. "Too damn bad…you're human deal with it."

"You're missing the point."

Jason stopped in his pacing to turn towards Tim. "And what exactly is the point?"

"I'm just too exhausted to care."

"I'd say that you're just creeping into daddy bat's territory, but you're not, are you? See, at least he broods. You're just…" Jason trailed off while he searched for the right word.

Tim tapped his fingers against the water bottle he was still holding. "I'm just what, Jason?"

"I don't know…dead?"

Tim put the bottle of water down before standing up and walking over to Jason. "Really? Because I'm just being me, and I don't get why you think that's so interesting."

Jason threw his hands into the air out of frustration. "Who the hell said that _this _was interesting?"

"Well, that is why you hopped onto the back of my bike, isn't it? I was just going to drive away and we both could have continued on with our lives, but you chose to follow. You chose to…" Tim trailed off not really sure what he wanted to say.

Jason glared at him. "What? I chose to what?"

"Well, I was going to say care, but you don't care, Jason, and that's one of your more redeeming qualities." Tim started to walk back to the couch.

"Fuck you, kid." Jason growled as he followed Tim to the couch. "I care…just not about the shit that Bruce and the rest of you want me to care about."

Tim spun around to face him. "What the hell are you talking about? The rest of us? When the hell did I ever tell you to care about ANYTHING?"

Jason rolled his eyes at him. "Oh, come on, kid, none of you actually have to say anything. It's written all over your faces every time I see one of you."

Tim folded his arms across his chest. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

Tim sat back down on the couch, and turned to face Jason. "So, what am I supposedly 'telling' you to care about? Because, right now, I really don't care about anything, so I'm not really getting how I could tell you to care about something."

"You…you're making me care about you, and trust me," Jason glared viciously. "I don't like it."

"And how the fuck am I managing to do that, Jason? Because, right now, I don't even care about me."

Jason shook his head ruefully. "And that's the truly fucked up thing, kid."

Tim stared at him impassively. "Explain."

"You…you've always been…weird, creepy, brainy, and kind of a jerk, but you've never been like…this."

"And tell me, Jason, what exactly is _this_?" Tim stressed the last word, trying desperately to understand what Jason was talking about.

"You're like…" Jason trailed off trying to put it into words.

"Like what, Jason?" Tim was getting annoyed. He didn't like being confused.

Jason moved to sit next to Tim on the couch. "You're like every insane, dark, and deranged person we track down at night."

Tim rolled his eyes at him. "Oh, that's just great, coming from _you_."

Jason folded his arms over his chest. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were one of them, Jay…hell, you still kinda are."

"Yeah, but you're worse than any of us."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really? How is that exactly?"

"You don't have any reason."

Tim was just getting more and more confused as the conversation progressed. "I don't have any reason for what?

"You don't have any reason to exist."

Tim scoffed at that. "You say it like that's necessary."

Jason shrugged. "I don't know if it's necessary, but I'm sure it helps."

Tim raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

Tim folded his arms over his chest again. "Well, then tell me something, Jason, what the hell is your reason?"

Jason shrugged. "Um…well, I guess because I'm back."

Tim was genuinely surprised by the answer. "What?"

"Kid, I'm not dead."

Tim stared at him wondering why that mattered. "So?"

"So, why waste my second chance?"

Tim scoffed again. "You consider what you do not wasting it?"

"Compared to what you're doing…hell yeah."

Tim shook his head. "I don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"You shouldn't even be here, so why bother using it…especially for what you do?"

Jason shrugged as he leaned back into the couch. "Because I have to do something to pass the time."

"What, and reading a book wasn't good enough for you?"

"I find real life to be far more interesting."

Tim leaned forward, and placed his forearms on his thighs. "I don't."

"Yeah, well not all of us are like you."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, I get the feeling here that you'd like to kill yourself--although I can't imagine where I picked that up from--but the rest of us prefer not to end it so soon…especially when it was already taken away once before."

Tim hummed to himself for a moment. "So you, like, actually feel real emotions."

"Fuck you, you know what? I don't even know why I stopped you. I should have just let you go jump off a bridge or something."

"If I remember correctly you found me outside of a bar…not a bridge."

"Sometimes a bar can lead to a bridge."

Tim smirked...barely. "Really? Because I thought a road usually led to a bridge. Damn, all those maps lied to me."

Jason rolled his eyes. "You think you're so fucking clever, don't you?"

Tim returned to staring at him impassively. "Why would I think that? I mean, you've only been telling me all night how dumb I am."

"That's because you're acting stupid…despite your intelligence."

"What intelligence?"

Jason sighed to himself. "You're so annoying."

"You followed."

Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "What's your point?"

"My point is you're the only reason I'm here."

Jason glared at him. "Trust me, I find myself regretting that decision more and more each second."

"Well, in that case, I'll just leave." Tim stood up, and began walking towards the door.

"Yeah, and go where? I doubt Dick wants your pathetic ass around."

Tim stopped, but didn't turn around, as he shrugged. "Maybe I'll take your advice and find a bridge." He glanced over his shoulder before continuing to the door.

"Hey, whoa…if you want to kill yourself fine, but don't lay that on me."

"Don't worry, Jason…no one would ever expect you to take responsibility for anything."

Tim was about to pull the door open, but was stopped by Jason grabbing his bicep and pulling him back to face him. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

"Nothing." Tim glanced down at Jason's hand still holding firmly onto his upper arm. "May I go now? I have things to do."

"Like what?"

Tim shrugged. "Stuff, what's it to you?"

"I don't need daddy bats and Dick on my ass because I let you walk out of here and you went and offed yourself."

Tim stared at him blankly. "I have no intention of such."

Jason released Tim before folding his arms over his chest. "Then what were you doing in my part of town tonight?"

The corners of Tim's mouth twitched slightly as he shrugged lazily. "Same as you, I guess."

Jason raised an eyebrow at Tim's expression. "Meaning?"

"I was bored and needed a place to be." Tim turned towards the door once again, and tossed, "Have a good night, Jason," over his shoulder before leaving without another word.

The End


	2. Chapter 2

Jason couldn't believe he was actually clinging to the outside of Dick's bedroom window. If someone had told him that this is where he would be when his night had started, he would have laughed, and then knocked the person on his ass. Jason was still trying to tell himself to just go home; but after last night he felt an unexplainable need to do this. Sighing to himself, Jason silently opened the window and slid inside. "We need to talk."

Dick spun around quickly. "What the hell are you doing here, Jason?"

"Call me crazy…"

Dick smirked as he folded his arms over his chest. "Okay, you're crazy."

Jason glared harshly at the interruption, but continued anyway. "BUT, I'm fairly certain that 'We need to talk,' is kinda the answer to your question."

Dick returned to putting his laundry away. "I don't have anything to say to you, Jason."

Jason moved over to the other side of the room. It took him farther away from his exit, but it also made it more difficult for Dick to throw him out of the window or something. "Well, good, because I didn't come here to hear you run your mouth, Dick." The last word was spoken as an insult.

"Then why are you here?"

"Don't mistake this for caring, but there's something wrong with the kid."

"Oh, trust me, I know you don't care about anything, and don't worry about him. I'm working on it."

"Well, clearly, you aren't doing a very good job."

Dick dropped the pair of mated socks into his top drawer before turning back to glare venomously at Jason. "What the hell would you know, Jason?"

"Well, for starters, he was in my part of town last night."

Dick stared at him wide-eyed for a moment. "What? What the hell was he doing there?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. I never did get a real answer out of him."

"Ugh, I left the little monster in the cave. I figured he could handle just working out and not causing any trouble. Apparently, that was a mistake."

"Um, not that I care or anything, but when did you start referring to Tim as 'the little monster'?"

Dick was suddenly very confused. "What? What are you talking about? I was talking about Damian."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Okay, never mind, coming here was obviously a lapse in judgment. I can see why the kid is the way he is now."

Jason moved to leave, but Dick halted him with a hand wrapped around his upper arm. "Wait, what's wrong with Tim?"

Jason physically removed Dick's hand from his arm before answering. "Nothing, besides I don't think you knowing would help anything."

"What?"

"Well, now that I'm here, I can see that you're probably the problem."

Dick slammed his top dresser drawer shut. "Excuse me! I'm the problem? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Jason turned to leave.

Dick quickly moved to block his way. "Whoa, you don't get to just walk in here, spout a bunch of crap about me being 'the problem'--whatever the hell that means--and then just leave."

Jason sighed to himself. He told himself he should have just walked away and let this be the end of it. "When's the last time you've talked to the kid?"

"That isn't any of your business."

Jason rolled his eyes. "And you wonder why he's so fucked up. Oh, wait, that's right. You don't even know how fucked up he is, because you're too wrapped up in your own shit."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Jason."

Jason glared at that. "Oh, really? Because I'm not the one standing here believing in the delusion that everything's okay."

"For once can you just skip to the point?"

"Why don't you just ask Tim what the point is?"

Dick was about to respond when his window opened. "Hey, I don't mean to intrude. I just need to borrow your first aid kit real quick. Don't worry, it's nothing big. I just…" Tim trailed off when he looked up and saw Dick and Jason staring at him. "Oh, this isn't going to end well. What did I miss?"

Dick pointed towards where he kept the first aid kit. "Jason, said there's something wrong with you."

Tim didn't know why Dick bothered gesturing toward the first aid kit. He knew where it was. "Well, I'm bleeding…thus the need for the first aid kit."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Not really what I meant, kid."

Tim shrugged as he sat on Dick's bed and opened the kit. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine."

Dick went back to putting his laundry away. "See, Jason, you just want there to be something wrong."

Jason threw his hands in the air out of frustration. "Tell me you're not honestly falling for this! I mean, he practically said that he wanted to kill himself."

Tim abruptly stood from the bed. "I did not."

"Oh, really?" Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "What was it that you said again? Oh, yeah, 'I could just sorta miss this next turn, and then neither one of us would have to deal with each other ever again'. That was it, wasn't it?"

Dick gawked at Tim in horror. "Tim, tell me that he's making that up."

Tim stared at him blankly as he returned to cleaning his wound. "He's making that up."

Dick could tell that he was lying. "TIM!"

"Look, I only came here to borrow your first aid kit, and I did--and thanks for that by the way--but I think it's time for me to go. I'll replace the supplies I used later." Tim put the first aid kit away, and headed towards the window.

Dick grabbed a hold of Tim's arm--careful not to touch the newly bandaged spot--and then pulled him back. "Wait…"

Tim spun around to face him. "Why?"

Dick loosened his hold on Tim's arm, but didn't fully release him. "Let's talk about this."

"What's the point? I'm just being melodramatic, right?"

At the sudden realization of what this was all really about, Dick felt like smacking his head against the wall. He hadn't meant what he had said the previous day, but he doubted that mattered now. "Tim,…"

Tim interrupted him before he could continue. "Don't bother making an excuse for it. I'm fine…just like I always am. After all, I'm not allowed to be anything else." Without another word Tim removed his arm from Dick's hold completely, and was out of the window before Dick or Jason could move.

Jason watched as Dick collapsed onto his bed. "Eh, for the first time in a long time I'm not the biggest screw up in the room."

The end (for now)


	3. Chapter 3

Dick sat on his bed, drowning in self loathing. "Why do I always screw up with Tim?"

It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but when Jason was around, rhetorical questions rarely went unanswered. "Because you're old and can't relate to him."

Dick glared at him. "Helpful…very helpful."

Jason smirked at his response. "So, he's a little fucked up right now. It'll be fine."

Dick stared at him in disbelief. "Are you actually trying to reassure me?"

Jason shrugged. "Thought I'd try something new today. It's not really sitting well with me."

"I should go after him."

"And do what? The kid clearly isn't up for talking."

"Tim never is."

"Maybe we should corner him while he's on patrol and…"

Dick held up a hand to stop Jason from continuing. "If you're about to say something about beating him up or something don't…just don't."

Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "Afraid he'd like it too much?"

Dick shook his head, not wanting to respond. "He's just so…"

"Broken?" Jason suggested for him.

"Tim isn't broken…just a little…lost."

Jason snorted. "Oh, yeah, lost is the word for it."

"What are you still doing here anyway?"

"Gloating."

"I didn't actually expect you to answer that honestly."

Jason flopped down onto the bed next to Dick. "So, just out of curiosity, how did this all start?"

"I don't know. We were in the cave talking. He started complaining about life, and well…you know how morbid he can be sometimes, and…"

Jason interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. "And you were an insensitive jerk about it…continue."

"Look, all I said was, "It's not that bad," and he just…shut down."

Jason scoffed at that. "Yeah, and if I heard correctly you also called him melodramatic."

"He was being melodramatic!"

Jason rolled his eyes at him. "Dick, even if the kid is sitting there ready to go hop off a building without a jump line because he's having a bad hair day you don't call him melodramatic. That's just a recipe for disaster."

"Since when did you become the better, wiser, older brother?"

Jason quickly got to his feet. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm no one's brother. I'm only here to bask in the glory of your screw-up."

Dick raised an eyebrow at him out of skepticism. "Right."

Jason glared at him. "Don't you have a Robin to go save?"

"Come with me."

There were a lot of things that had happened in Jason's life that he wasn't expecting, but that sentence was one of the more insane things. "WHAT?"

"Come with me."

Jason raised an eyebrow at him out of confusion. "Why?"

Dick shrugged and gave him a look as though it should be obvious. "You've been doing a better job with him than I have."

Jason shook his head violently. "No, no, no, I'm not a part of this. I only came here because I…because you needed to know."

Dick stood up from the bed as well. "You did the right thing, so why don't you see this through? Come with me."

Jason folded his arms over his chest and glared at him. "What's in it for me?"

Dick raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "Seriously? You're going to make me bribe you?"

"I'm not making you do anything."

"He's our brother."

"He's not my brother, and it actually works in my favor if he goes splat somewhere."

Dick shook his head. "No, it doesn't."

"Sure, it does."

"If that was true you wouldn't have come here in the first place."

"Look, I was just covering my ass."

"Whatever you feel you have to tell yourself, Jason."

Jason folded his arms over his chest, and scowled at him like a petulant child. "I'm not going."

Dick rolled his eyes at Jason's juvenile antics. "Fine, I'll get you some sour gummy worms."

"That's it?"

"And I won't shove one of my escrima sticks down your throat."

Jason stared at him blankly for a moment. "You drive a hard bargain, Grayson, but sure, why the hell not? I've got nothing else to do tonight, and hey, if you screw up again…"

"You'll gloat like the bastard that you are."

Jason smirked evilly. "You know me so well."

Dick walked towards his closet to get his Nightwing suit back on. "Uh huh, so where do you think we should start looking?"

"No idea, where does the kid go when he needs to be alone?"

Dick stuck his head out of the closet long enough to shrug, and then ducked back in to look for the rest of his uniform. "It's Tim, who the hell knows?"

Jason sighed to himself. "Well then I guess we better get started. I'll check my part of town. Call if you see anything."

Dick nodded once before both of them exited through the window.

***

Two hours later, the two of them reconvened on a rooftop near the warehouse district. "Find anything?" Nightwing sounded exhausted.

Red Hood shook his head. "No, none of my contacts have seen any type of Robin action tonight either, so…"

"So, he left my place, and then stopped somewhere to change into civvies?"

"Sounds like a bullshit Robin move to me."

"You know, you were a Robin too, once."

"And I pulled bullshit moves like that all the time."

"All he was doing was making the most logical choice to ditch the people he wanted to."

"Yeah, unfortunately, that means us. Damn, don't you have a tracer on the kid? A shock collar…something?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes behind his mask at Red Hood's response. "If you can get a tracer on Tim's civvies, I salute you; and we don't go around shocking Robins…not anymore."

"Uh huh, I'll believe that when I see it."

"If we're lucky we'll see Tim sometime soon."

Red Hood smirked evilly behind his mask. "Or give up soon."

"We're not giving up. He's our brother."

Red Hood's hands curled into fists instinctively. "Get this through your head, failure of the hour--he's YOUR brother! Not MINE!"

"Oh great."

At the sound of the familiar voice, the two of them turned around, shocked to see Tim standing there. Red Hood was the first to recover. "What he hell are you doing up here, little bird?" He didn't need to ask how Tim had gotten up there without the Robin gear. Each and every one of them could; it was just a matter of none of them really wanted to most of the time.

Tim folded his arms over his chest under the cape that wasn't there. "I heard fighting above me, so I decided to check it out. I'm not actually all that surprised that it turned out to be you two."

Nightwing quickly tore off his mask before moving closer to Tim. "Hey, little brother, I think we need to talk."

Tim took a small step away from him. "No, I really don't think that we do, Dick."

Dick stopped moving the moment he saw Tim back away. "Well, can you just listen to me then?"

"What's the point? I'm fine."

"No, I really don't think that you are."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "And you've come to this conclusion solely based off of what Jason told you?"

Dick shook his head and remained in place, despite wanting desperately to move closer to Tim. "No, not really."

Tim folded his arms over his chest again. "Why don't I believe that?"

"Tim, look, I'm sorry, okay? I was a jerk earlier, and I'm sorry."

Tim just stood there staring at him, completely emotionless, not saying anything for a long moment. "Don't be sorry."

Dick was caught off guard by Tim's response. "What?"

"I'm not so sure you were wrong, so don't be sorry."

Red Hood tore off his hood so that his expression was clearly visible to the two people in front of him. "You're both morons, you know that! Of course the asshole was wrong, and of course there's something genuinely wrong with you."

"That really all depends on your definition of wrong."

"Um, I'm going to go with Jason here. There is something wrong with you."

"So then, you apologized for something that you actually believe?"

Dick's eyes widened a little at Tim's response. "I…this isn't about me?"

Tim glared at him harshly. "Maybe it should be, Dick."

Jason smirked again. "I agree with baby bird here."

Dick gave Jason one of his better bat glares. "You would, but this is about Tim."

"Why? None of this has been affecting how I function as Robin or Tim Drake, therefore, there's no reason for concern."

Dick turned his glare to Tim. "That's a lie, and you know it."

Tim just glared right back at him. "Yeah, that's why Jason had to tell you something was up."

"The kid's got a point there, Dickie bird." Jason interjected.

Dick suddenly had an overwhelming urge to massage his temples, but resisted. "That doesn't change the fact that Tim was talking about killing himself."

Tim held up his hands in the air defensively. "I made a joke--nothing more."

Jason folded his arms over his chest. "It didn't seem like a joke to me."

Tim glared over at Jason. "You don't even like any of us, so why the hell are you here?"

Jason shrugged lazily. "I had nothing better to do."

Dick got between the two of them before something bad could happen. "Tim we care about you. We're worried about you."

Jason scoffed. "Speak for your self, golden boy."

Tim smirked at him. "That's not what you said back at your place, Jason."

Jason growled at him. "You shut the fuck about that. I was just saying what I had to in order to keep you from doing something stupid."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Oh, please you knew there was no danger of anything like that. You just wanted the company."

Jason clenched his hands into tight fists and fought for control. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about, kid."

Tim scoffed at him. "Sure I do. You're lonely. It's understandable, but you're lonely, and you hate that--because you made it that way--because for some reason you feel like you deserve to be alone. You want people around you, but you feel like you don't deserve people, so you do anything and everything to push people away…including kill."

"Fuck you! You don't know shit about me, so don't pretend that you do."

"Oh, like you're really that hard to figure out, Jason. Face it, you're the hurt kid who grew up to be an extremely hurt and fucked up adult."

Jason emitted a low, guttural growl before pouncing onto Tim. He was hitting him relentlessly as Dick tried to pry him off of Tim. "You bastard, you stupid fucking bastard! You don't know jack shit. Do you hear me? You don't know ANYTHING!"

Dick finally managed to pull Jason off of Tim and held onto him, but Tim was already bloody, and bruises we're already appearing. Tim wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. "See, you're not complicated at all, Jason." Before another word was spoken, Tim leapt off the side of the building, where a fire escape broke his fall.

Jason tore himself from Dick's hold and spun around to glare viciously at him. "Sometimes I really fucking hate that kid."

The End (till later)


	4. Chapter 4

Dick silently crept into the satellite cave where Tim was currently mending himself, and made a mental note to thank Babs for telling him where Tim was. "You really pissed Jason off, you know?"

Tim paused in what he was doing to glare at Dick. "How did you get in here?"

Dick internally winced at the sound of Tim's voice. It was clear that the last person Tim wanted see right now was him. "O thinks we need to talk."

Tim turned back to what he was doing, but Dick was pretty sure that the scowl was still on his face. "Well, she's wrong."

Dick sighed to himself as he began to wonder why everything in his life was always so complicated. "Can I at least help you clean the wounds?"

"I've got it covered."

Dick sat down next to Tim, but didn't touch him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you got Jason angry enough to hit you on purpose."

Tim hesitated for a slight moment before he opened the tube of antiseptic that was sitting next to him. "But you know better."

"Well, I know that you psychoanalyzed him on purpose, but the desired result wasn't a beating. You simply wanted the attention off yourself for awhile."

Tim dropped the gauze pad that he was using to clean his wound, and turned his vicious glare on Dick. "What's your point?"

Dick held up his hands in the air defensively. "I just wanted you to know that I get it."

In a split second, Tim's face lost all traces of anger, and his expression was suddenly very blank. He didn't say anything before he grabbed another gauze pad, put more antiseptic on it, and continued cleaning his wounds. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to Dick, still completely expressionless. "Is there anything else?"

"Um…" Dick trailed off, not really sure what to say. True, he hadn't expected this to fix anything, but he didn't expect Tim to be so short with him, either; although to be honest, Dick wasn't really sure why he hadn't expected that.

Tim looked away from Dick to focus on what he was doing. "You can go now."

Dick turned sideways to face him fully. "What?"

Tim still didn't look at him. "You came here, you said your piece, and I feel a whole lot better now, so you can leave."

"Tim…" Dick was about to reach over to grab Tim's shoulder, but stopped the moment that he caught a glimpse of Tim's raised hand.

"Look, I did what I did. The end."

Dick raised an eyebrow at him. "Are we talking about what you said to Jason on that rooftop, or are we talking about when Jason first found you in his part of town?"

"Yes," was all that Tim said in reply.

Dick sighed to himself, but decided to just let it go. "Well, can you at least tell me why you came here instead of going back to the manor?"

Tim shrugged, and still didn't look up. "I needed some time alone."

"I see, and do you still need some alone time?"

Tim just shrugged again. "Don't know…I mean, it's not like I got a lot of it before you came barging in."

Dick folded his arms over his chest at that. "I did not barge."

Tim finally brought his gaze up from the ground as he lifted an eyebrow at Dick. "Right, not at all."

"Okay, I did, didn't I?"

Tim held his index finger and thumb slightly apart. "Just a little."

"I'm sorry."

Tim turned to face him fully. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that unless you mean it."

Dick's eyes widened slightly. "I do mean it."

Tim folded his arms over his chest as his eyebrow rose again. "The same way you meant it last time?"

"That's not fair. I did mean it last time. It's just…"

Tim cut him off before he could finish. "Just that you didn't actually understand why you should be sorry."

"I didn't say that."

"Well, you think that there's something wrong with me."

Dick shook his head ruefully. "Tim, let's be honest here. I think there's something wrong with all of us."

Tim laughed at that. "Okay, fine I'll give you that one."

Dick smiled at Tim's laugh for a moment before sobering up. "You know, Jason is still gonna want to kick your ass the next time he sees you."

Tim shrugged lazily. "So, I went from one person wishing I had never existed to another, no big deal, really."

Dick's eyebrows furrowed at that. "What? Who are you talking about?"

Tim's gaze fell to the floor again. "Well, okay, wishing I had never existed is a stronger emotion than I would ever think anyone would have regarding me, because that's just selfish; but you seemed pretty disinterested in me all around, so it seemed to fit."

Dick was absolutely floored at that. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, little brother, I never felt that way."

Tim just stared at him blankly. "Well, you sure as hell did a great job of showing something you never felt."

Dick didn't know what to say. He just sat there for a moment staring at his hands. He had never meant to make Tim feel that way. Hell, he wasn't even sure _how_ he had managed to make Tim feel that way. After a few moments he gathered Tim into a hug. "I am so sorry."

"So, I've heard."

Dick pulled back enough that Tim could see his eyes. "Little brother, you have to believe me, had I known how you felt, I never would have said what I said."

Tim struggled against the embrace. "It's fine, really. I'm fine."

Dick just held him tighter. "Nice try, Timmy, but I know that just means you're not."

Tim continued to try to extract himself from the hug. "This really isn't necessary."

"I think that it is."

Tim stopped at that. "Why?"

"Because I clearly screwed up somewhere down the line and this is the only way I know how to make it better."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "I think we need to work on that, don't you?"

Dick squeezed Tim tighter still. "No."

Dick could tell that Tim was rolling his eyes. "I really am fine, you know?"

Dick ran a hand over Tim's hair. "No, I don't."

Tim shook his head against Dick's hand. "Well, I am, so you can let go now."

Dick smirked at Tim. "Well, I don't want to, so deal."

Tim sighed out of exasperation as he slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. After a few moments, Tim allowed himself to relax into the embrace. "There, happy now?"

Dick couldn't help but laugh. "You know, you're still gonna have to talk to Jason after this."

"Okay, now you're just being mean."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Tim sighed again. "So, are you going to let me go now?"

Dick grinned at that. "When I feel like it."

Dick could tell that Tim was rolling his eyes again when he spoke. "Oh, yes, take your time. I've got all day, after all."

Dick's smile only brightened. "I intend to, Timmy, I intend to."

The end (for now)


	5. Chapter 5

Jason smirked as he entered the cave and found Tim sitting at the computer. He had wanted to repay him for their last conversation. Jason wasn't sure who Tim thought he was, but no one psychoanalyzed him and didn't receive an ass kicking for it. "Dick's not here to protect your sorry ass this time, kid."

Tim closed everything that he was working on and turned to face Jason. "If you really feel that it's necessary, I guess we can fight. Although, I don't see what it will gain you."

Jason glared at him as he clenched his hands into fists. "Let's just say that it'll make me feel better."

Tim stood from his chair, but didn't move into a fighting stance. "I only asked you here to apologize. It's been brought to my attention that most people don't enjoy being analyzed in such a manner."

Jason just stared at him for a moment. "It's been brought to your attention? What? Like you didn't know how I was going to react to that bullshit?"

Tim shook his head. "No, I knew exactly how you would react, but that didn't matter at the time."

Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "And why is that, kid?"

"Because your outburst got me away from the situation I was in, which was all that I had wanted."

Jason scoffed at that. "So what then? You're sorry you pissed me off, but not really, because you got what you wanted out of the deal."

"Yes," was all that Tim said in reply.

"So then you're not sorry at all."

Tim shook his head again. "You misunderstand me."

Jason's eyebrow rose once again. "Oh?"

"I'm sorry that the solution that I came up with affected you in such a way. However, I'm not sorry that I said what I said or that our conversation ended the way that it did. True, I would have preferred to avoid the cuts and bruises you inflicted upon me, but I view that as just consequences to my decision."

"Oh, well that's mighty fucking big of you."

Tim folded his arms over his chest. "I realize that you don't approve of my methods, but you technically gained something out of our last meeting as well."

"Oh really, and what's that?"

Tim stared at him as though it should be obvious. "You got to channel your rage at someone who, at the time, deserved it, for once. You also know that everything that I said was completely accurate and you know that Dick won't be so hard on you now that he knows."

Jason folded his arms over his chest and stared at Tim impassively. "And why the hell should it matter to me if Dickie bird goes easy on me?"

Tim smirked. "Because as long as you stay out of his way you can basically do whatever you feel is necessary now, and you don't have to worry about his interference."

Jason scoffed again. "His interference didn't really affect me before, kid."

"Sure it didn't, Jason. Sure it didn't."

Jason laughed. "So, does that mean you're on my side, baby bird? Because it's sounds like you just gave me permission to kill indiscriminately."

Tim shook his head at him. "No, that will always be wrong; but I don't see why you should have any problem breaking a few more bones than strictly necessary, and making it perfectly clear that you don't put up with certain types of crimes."

Jason stared at him for a moment as though he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Yeah, sure, kid, but I have to wonder what Dickie bird would say if he knew what type of game you were playing here."

Tim shrugged lazily. "It probably wouldn't end well…for either of us, Jason."

Jason heard that threat loud and clear. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't."

Tim nodded to him before returning to his seat. "Well, now that we're both clear on that, I think you should be going, don't you, Jason?"

Jason wasn't sure that _he_ knew what type of game Tim was playing, and he was fairly certain that he didn't want to know. "Yeah, see you around, kid."

Tim turned back around to face Jason before he left. "I'm sure I will, Jason. I'm sure I will."

Jason gulped involuntarily at Tim's predatory expression and tone before walking out of the cave at a slightly faster pace than he entered with.

The End


	6. Chapter 6

It had been only two days since his little conversation with Tim, but everything was going well in Jason's life. Okay, yeah, he was a little irked that he had actually stopped killing, but even Jason knew when a fight just wasn't worth having. The other Bats didn't bother him as long as he stayed out of their neck of the woods, which was fine by him--because the less time that he spent around Tim and the others, the better. Jason did what the other Bats just didn't have the backbone to do, and everyone just pretended to be okay with that. Everything was fine…right up until it wasn't.

Jason guessed that Dick thought that it was less annoying to track him down at his apartment than to find him while he was out, but Jason didn't really see it that way. "What do you want?"

"A couple of days ago you had a conversation with Tim. What was it about?"

Jason didn't see why that stupid moment in the cave was relevant now, but it was Dick, so being difficult was just kind of how Jason always dealt with him. "Nothing, why?"

"He left about an hour after you, and no one's seen him since."

"Well, I had nothing to do with it. I haven't even seen the kid since, so what do you want from me?"

Dick sighed as he rubbed his temples. "I want your help to find him."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

Jason glared at him. "Because I feel like we've already played this game, and I don't remember it ending well for me."

"Are you seriously going to let that get in the way of…"

Jason interrupted him before Dick could finish. "Get in the way of what, Dick? Family? Because we're not family."

"Jason, look, all I'm asking for is a night or two of you helping me track down some leads."

Jason's glare intensified as he folded his arms over his chest. "Why don't you get Daddy Bats to help you?"

Dick clenched his fists at his sides. "B is off-world working on something."

Jason scoffed at that. "So, once again, something else is more important than his Robin."

Dick really didn't want to get into that fight right now. "Jay, I'm on my own here."

"Yeah, you are."

"JASON!"

Jason folded his arms over his chest again as he snarled at Dick. "No amount of yelling is going to get me to agree to help you, Dick."

Dick sighed to himself as he tried to reign in his anger. "I just want your help…nothing more. I'm not asking you to move back into the manor or anything like that. I just want you to help me find my little brother."

Jason stared at him for a moment. "Well, good, because that's never going to happen. The day that I move back into the manor is the day hell freezes over."

"Yeah, that's great. How about you suck up your 'I got killed' issues, and help me find Tim."

Jason glared at that even more intently at that. "This has nothing to do with that."

Dick crossed his arms over his chest. "Prove it, help me search."

Jason knew that he was being manipulated by Dick. He knew that he should just walk away immediately. He knew that working with Dick wasn't going to be good for either of them, but damn if his ego didn't have a problem with that. "Fine, you've got my help, but only for a few nights."

"That's fine by me, Jason. I'll meet you on the roof when you're ready."

Jason grumbled to himself as he watched Dick slip out his window. Jason started grabbing his gear as he thought about just pushing Dick off the roof when he got up there…not that it would do any good.

***

Three weeks later, the two of them were no closer to finding Tim. They had no clues what-so-ever, and everything was a mess. The only good thing that Dick could think of was the fact that Jason was spending more and more time at the cave lately. In fact, he couldn't actually remember the last time that Jason had gone back to his apartment. Things were still tense between Bruce and Jason, but they seemed to ignore each other completely when that tension got to be too much for everyone. Dick knew that it wasn't the healthiest way for them to react, but he figured it was better than everyone trying to kill each other.

"What are you doing?"

Dick turned at the sound of Jason's voice coming from somewhere near the free weights. "Nothing, I was actually just getting ready to head to bed." Dick closed out everything that he was working on, pushed away from the desk, and went to join Jason over by the weights. "What about you?"

Jason shrugged before stretching out his arms. "I'd thought I'd get a work out in."

Dick raised an eyebrow at him. "Couldn't sleep."

Jason shrugged again before moving to stretch out his legs. "I never really do, you know that."

"Yeah…"

"I take it that you couldn't sleep either."

Dick just shook his head. "It's been three weeks."

"I know."

"We're not going to find him, are we?"

Jason sighed. "I don't know."

Dick mentally shook his head before switching subjects. "So, how long until you leave?"

"I…what?"

"You keep saying that you're not going to stick around, so…"

"I'm…" Jason trailed off as he heard something from the vicinity of the computer. "Did you hear that?"

Dick turned to face the computer. "Yeah, it sounded like…"

"An email alert." They both spoke simultaneously as Dick headed back towards the computer.

Dick sat down, and pulled up his secure email account. "I don't recognize that sender."

Jason glanced at Dick before returning his attention to the screen. "How many people know this account exists?"

"Just the Bats."

Jason was feeling extremely apprehensive after that, but he didn't know why. "I think you should open it."

Dick just continued to stare at the screen. "Do you really think that that's a good idea?"

Jason shrugged again. "Since when am I the Robin known for good ideas?"

Dick took a breath as he opened the email. The lack of nefarious events after he opened it didn't make either of them relax. Dick read the email to himself quietly before turning to Jason. "I don't think I like this."

"Well, which part do you dislike more, Dick. The being told to go to the Gotham National Bank tomorrow morning by an email from a unknown person, or the fact that the Bank will apparently be expecting Richard Grayson and Jason Todd?"

Dick turned to face Jason. "Are you really going to make me choose?"

Jason just rolled his eyes. "So, how many weapons am I bringing tomorrow?"

Dick thought about that for a moment. "As many as you can reasonably conceal."

***

The next morning, the two of them walked into Gotham National Bank on high alert. Dick motioned for Jason to stay close. "Look, we're going to do this as quickly as possible. Do you see the bank manager anywhere?"

Jason glanced around, spotted an office, and headed that way with Dick close on his heels. The bank manager was a tall woman with long blonde hair. "Hi, I'm Richard Grayson..." Dick didn't get a chance to say anything else before she interrupted him.

The woman's eyes lit up the moment that he said the name. "Oh, I've been expecting you. Do you two have your IDs?"

They showed the woman their IDs; she inspected them for a moment before handing them back to them. "Very well, follow me." Without another word the woman walked out of her office and took them to a room full of safety deposit boxes. The two of them glanced at each other for a moment before returning their attention to whatever she was doing. "Here we are…number 726." She led them to another room with a table in it. "I'll be in my office if either of you two need anything." She left before either of them had a chance to respond.

They were both silent for a moment as they stared at the box she had set on the table in front of them. "What the hell did we get ourselves into?"

Dick shrugged as he pulled out his lock picking kit. "Who knows, but I think I'm ready to find out, you?"

Jason gestured for Dick to get on with it. "Bet you it explodes."

Dick glared at him. "Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence there."

Jason smirked evilly. "Anytime."

After a few moments, Dick managed to get the box unlocked. He braced himself before opening it, but nothing happened. They both took a moment to peer inside before Dick pulled out a disk. Jason stared at it for a moment before turning his attention back to Dick, "What the hell? Now what?"

Dick shrugged. "I guess we take it back to the cave and see what kind of information we can pull from it." Dick pocketed the disk as the two of them headed out of the bank, before they could convince themselves otherwise.

When the two of them made it back to the cave they were both extremely grateful that no one was around. Dick headed straight for the computer the moment that they got back. "Okay, so far this day has just been strange event after strange event."

Jason rolled his eyes as he shrugged off his jacket. "No, really...thanks for that update."

Dick ignored Jason as he slid the disk into the computer. The moment that the disk was inserted, an audio file opened and started playing. "If you found this, then you know what happened."

Dick's eyes widened the moment that he recognized Tim's voice. "Not really, but thanks for having so much faith in me, Timmy."

Jason stood next to where Dick was sitting in front of the computer and listened as the recording continued. "I'm sure that by now you've both figured out that from the very beginning you've both been played."

Jason's head snapped to side as he glared at Dick. "What the fuck does the kid mean by that?"

Dick shrugged at Jason, because the hell if he knew.

"I'm sure everything will work out now that Jason is finally back in the family. I wish I could have been there to see his face when he finally realized that he was suddenly back in the fold without even meaning to be."

Jason folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "I have done no such thing."

Dick rolled his eyes as he tried to listen. "Jason, shut up. You are totally one of us."

"I'm pleased that everything worked out. Take care of yourselves, and goodbye."

The recording cut off. The two of them just stared at the blank screen for a moment before Dick turned to Jason. "What? What the hell does he mean by goodbye?"

"Dick, I think babybird..."

Dick stopped him before Jason could continue. "No, no, I refuse to believe that he manipulated us both by going to that bar where you first found him. I refuse to accept that this was his plan from the very beginning. I refuse the idea that this entire time he just fucked around with both of us, so he could go..." Dick trailed off he couldn't even form the words, not alone say them out loud.

"Off himself?" Jason supplied for him. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he did."

Dick just shook his head. "I just don't get why."

Jason sighed. "He was fucked up, Dick. I'm not surprised, but you know what I don't get?"

"What?"

"Why did he manipulate us into working together? Why did he want me back in the fold? What the hell was his end game there?"

Dick stared at him sadly. "Knowing Tim, he wanted you to replace him, or at least lessen the blow of him being gone."

"What? Why? That's so fucked up."

"He's Tim…even when he's not thinking correctly he's still thinking of everyone else."

"Yeah, I don't think he was this time."

Dick raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Did the idiot think about what this is going to do to Bruce? What it's already doing to you?"

Dick shrugged. "I'm sure he considered it acceptable collateral damage."

Jason's jaw clenched at that. "Well, now I really want to kick his ass."

The two of them were silent for a moment. "What the hell do we do now?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know, big bird. I just don't know."

The two of them sat in silence considering how to tell Bruce. It wasn't as though, after three weeks, they had really expected to find him alive, but this…none of them had ever considered this. After a few moments, Jason turned to Dick. "You know Bruce isn't going to accept this without a body."

Dick nodded solemnly. "Then I guess we should get to work."

The End (for real this time)


End file.
